It could also buy 270 sets of life-saving Osprey body armour at about £1,000 a piece. The revelations come after Tory Defence Secretary Philip Hammond’s MoD admitted in August it had paid £40,000 ringing the speaking clock.

And the 118 bill is bound to infuriate the 4,500 soldiers who were made redundant in June in a bid to save money, as well as the five infantry battalions – including The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers – that the Coalition is planning to phase out.

In 2012, the MoD started a programme to ban the use of 118 numbers. But this is not expected to be completed in 2014.

The MoD said: “Calls to directory enquiries from the majority of our 260,000 fixed phone lines are banned but some staff working in isolated locations, who do not have access to a military phone network or the internet, are able to call directory enquiries to obtain contact details.

“Calls from fixed lines have fallen by over 75% and we are working to further reduce the number.”